See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/234830161

Flood level indicator and risk warning system for remote location monitoring
using flood observatory system

Article  in  WSEAS Transactions on Systems and Control · March 2010

CITATIONS READS

8 5,967

4 authors:

S. K. Subramaniam V.R. Gannapathy

Technical University of Malaysia Malacca Technical University of Malaysia Malacca
25 PUBLICATIONS   90 CITATIONS    11 PUBLICATIONS   36 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Sivarao Subramonian A. Hamidon

Technical University of Malaysia Malacca Technical University of Malaysia Malacca
80 PUBLICATIONS   274 CITATIONS    11 PUBLICATIONS   56 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Flood observatory system View project

Self-algorithm traffic light controllers View project

All content following this page was uploaded by S. K. Subramaniam on 15 May 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon

Flood level indicator and risk warning system for remote

location monitoring using Flood Observatory System

SIVA KUMAR SUBRAMANIAM 1, VIGNESWARA RAO GANNAPATHY 2,

SIVARAO SUBRAMONIAN 3 and ABDUL HAMID HAMIDON 4
1
Lecturer, Department of Industrial Electronics Engineering
Faculty of Electronics and Computer Engineering
2
Tutor, Department of Computer Engineering
Faculty of Electronics and Computer Engineering
3
Lecturer, Department of Manufacturing Process Engineering
Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering
4
Professor, Department of Industrial Electronics Engineering
Faculty of Electronics and Computer Engineering
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
MALAYSIA

siva@utem.edu.my, vigneswara@utem.edu.my, sivarao@utem.edu.my, hamid@utem.edu.my

Abstract: - Flooding is a great treat towards mankind as it is also considered one of the most devastating
natural disasters in the world. Flooding is not any abnormal scenario worldwide, since flooding results in great
damages to agriculture land, residential area and even cities with high cost in lives and towards the economy
of the country. The government has to spend tons of money in flood mitigation plans in afford to help the
victims and also to reduce the number in the long run. Most of the flood mitigating plans has high cost and
only can be implemented base on priority. Baring the cost and safety measures, this paper highlights the Flood
Observatory System (FOS) as a warning and alert system to efficiently monitor the critical flood prone areas
in real time basis. FOS can be deployed in flood prone areas in afford to create a well-used standard for remote
flood observation systems. The ability to receive real time information on flood level empowers both
government and private organizations to react to imminent danger in an effective manner. With the real time
flood information, allows public safety organizations and other emergency managers to effectively plan their
resource deployment within the limited time of alert. Warning as flood rises could be used to save life’s and
properties in many ways can help such organization and government to spend sufficient amount of money in
restoration process. The simple and practicality of a system should be useful in all means towards mankind.

Key-Words: - Flood Observatory System, flood mitigation plans, wireless sensor, programmable logic
controller.

1 Flooding and the impact towards
mankind
Flooding is the most common natural disaster
worldwide happens without prior warning. Floods
have been known to do some significant damage.
They destroy homes, crops, cars, buildings and
anything in their path. Animals and people get
caught in the current of the flowing water and can't
get out before rescue attempts are made. Although
flooding was an abnormal phenomena agers ago, but
now it is considered a life treating natural disaster
for the mankind [1].
Flooding has always resulting in enormous
anxiety on countries across the continent whereby
lost of life’s, people displaced, agricultural land
submerged in mud’s, roads, bridges and houses
washed away [2,3]. As a result of flooding, the
damages on properties are clearly visible.
Many individual and organization required to
spend time and afford to reduce the overhead on the
flood restoration plans for the infected locations and
as well as for the victims [4, 5]. Most of these plans
involve big amount of money and lots of human
force such as rescue workers, doctors, nurses,
engineers and etc. Other then the human forces, the
government has to spend a big amount of money in

ISSN: 1991-8763 153 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010


WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
various restorations of physical structures in the
flood infected locations. If only early flood warning
system has been effectively utilized, these losses can
be reduced and appropriate steps in fighting against
the flooding scenario can be taken in the shortest
time within the available resources.
Some of the flooding events in the city of Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia and the damages being made by
flooding are shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
Fig. 1: Flash flood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Fig. 2: Flash flood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
In most cases flood water level rise faster and
less time is given for the people for their evacuation.
In some cases the people around the flood prone
locations have to plans wisely and according to the
water level change by them self’s. The alerts for
early flood warning system are usually intended for
the respective organizations and authorities. When
there is a flooding scenario in a certain location, this
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
will take time for them to reach as water rises
quickly in most cases [6 - 8]. At the peak of the
flood, residential areas, public buildings and bridges
will be submerged in flood and instant damages are
to be faced.
In general flooding is unavoidable but the early
detection or warning system can be used to reduce
overheads bared by the victims and government.
The rescue activities in a flooding scenario in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3: Rescue workers recuing victims trapped
in a van during a flash flood in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
There are many sophisticated system widely in
practice by some organizations and responsible
authorities in monitoring flood level in a certain
location. Most of these devices are very high in
costly to be used and maintained. Apart from that,
these devices are usually used only for monitoring
purposes between the flood prone location and the
monitoring station [8].
With real time detection and alert system all the
responsible organization can be on their toes when
there is an urge for a certain task related to their core
job during flood. Such a system enables both private
and government organizations to work on their
emergency evacuation and mitigation plans for a
saver move before the flood situation gets worse.
Within a limited time and available man power
the rescue team and fire fighting department has to
plan for the best possible evacuation and rescue
activities during flood. In most cases these rescue
workers have to risk their life’s in the afford to help
154 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
the flood victims to safety in the shortest time
possible with the available resources.
The Fire fighting department is in a rescue
activities during a flooding event is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4: Fire fighters rescuing some flood victims
during a flash flood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Researchers around the world are attempting
many methods and to the best means of available
technology in early flood detection and monitoring
for remote locations. One of the methods and
technology exploit in early flood detection and alert
system is highlighted in this paper.
2 Important factors in the hardware
development
Some of the critical factors during a flood event
are such as highlighted in Fig. 5.
Time
Cost
Plan
Fig. 5: Factors of flood
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
Studies have been carried out in many possible
ways to highlight the factors and effects of flooding
towards mankind from time to time. These factors
play an important role for the researchers in
development of the hardware and a complete system
to assist authorities in monitoring flood prone
locations in real time basis.
2.1 Time
Time is one of the most important factors in a
flooding event. Time can be distributed into three
categories. The three categories of time with the
relevant activities are as shown in Fig. 6.
Safe
Moderate risk
High risk
Early detection
Respond to alert Rescue activities
and alert
Fig. 6: The time distribution on a certain flooding
event
2.1.1 Early detection and alert
At the event where water rise is detected
indicating possibilities for flooding on a certain
location is detected. This is the golden period where
flood mitigation plans should be taken as precaution
by both authorities and the people at the flood prone
location before the water rise to a critical level.
Most of the available systems are able to detect
the water rise and communicate it to the monitoring
station or to the responsible authorities. When the
water rise is still in safe level, the authorities are
given the warnings of the possible flooding on a
certain location. The duration taken from the first
detection of water rise till the information is send to
the responsible authorities is very important and
should be done in the shortest time possible. Most of
the system available today is only communicating to
the engaged system in the monitoring center.
2.1.2 Respond to alert
Once the alert is received in the monitoring
center, the authorities will respond to it based on the
resources available. The rescue teams will be
informed and there will be some personnel directed
to the location of flooding to inform the people.
155 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010
 Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon

In most cases this process is time consuming 3 Flood Observatory System

and at times it is impossible to reach all the rescue
teams at the same instance due to working time and
weather conditions.
2.1.3 Rescue activities
This will be last stage, where the rescue team
will be able to respond to the flood alert and make
wise decisions at the flood locations. The time taken
for the rescue team to reach the flood locations is
very uncertain. At times this is a time consuming
process and many drag time during bad weather
conditions. Things will get even worse during of off
working hours.
The Flood Observatory System is designed to be
an intelligent system for monitoring flood at remote
locations which has a high frequency of flooding.
The Flood Observatory System is fully automated
device which is capable of operating without human
intervention at all time regardless of the location
being installed.
The basic structure of the flood observatory
system is shown in Fig. 6.
OUTPUT UNIT

The traveling time to flooding locations is Display unit /

always considered critical since at this stage every Indication unit
seconds is important for the rescue team in the
afford to help and save the flood victims.
Centralize
monitoring station
2.2 Cost

The authorities are bond to two type of costing

when they are investing into a system. The first type CENTRALIZED
of costing is the costing of a certain device. Usually CONTROL UNIT
this would be paid once during the purchase. If the
costing of a device is very high, then only a few GSM
critical and necessary flooding locations will be communication unit
fitted with the flood monitoring system.

The second type of costing is the maintenance of

the system. These costing are a long term Communication
interface
commitment until the still is still in use. In most
cases the maintenance cost would be high in the
long run due to the replacement of necessary
components, software licensing and etc. Programmable logic
controller
2.3 Plan

During worse situation, the authorities have to

make wise decision to assist the victims in the
flooded locations. The authorities would be able to INPUT UNIT
plan according to the time and available resources
within for the rescue activities. In most cases the Sensor unit
information on the flooded locations are informed
during critical level and this makes the authorities to
struggle in the rescue activities. Worse still if there
are various locations to be monitored and wise Fig. 6: Structure of a Flood Observatory System
actions to be made.
Some of the features of the Flood Observatory
When a system is capable to alert the authorities System are very helpful for the monitoring station in
as early as the water rises, then they may react assisting the monitoring station management when
accordingly in ensuring the safety of the flooded there is flood at the measured location. This self
victims and every second count in the rescue afford.

ISSN: 1991-8763 156 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010


WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
operated system enables the monitoring station to be
informed on the water level changes at a certain
location on real time basis.
In most cases the flood prone locations requires
regular monitoring and visits especially during rainy
seasons since continuous rainfall can cause flooding
[1 - 3]. The Flood Observatory System is best
installed at locations where high potential of
flooding for effective and timely monitoring.
The most valuable data given by this system to
the monitoring station is instant water rise
information. This information is calculated by
performing a simple mathematical operation
consisting of water level and real time. If a system is
capable of sending such information in real time to
the monitoring station without human intervention
and regardless of the weather condition, wise
decisions could be made in the shortest time
possible.
Apart from alerting the monitoring stations, the
system can also be used to trigger flood warning
signs for road users, buildings and public areas
instantly. Electronic display system will be best to
display such information in public locations. When
there are changes in water level at flood prone
locations, the information can be translated and
displayed in this display system.
Fig. 7 shows an example of sensors which can
be integrated with the Flood Observatory System
prototype with detection criteria. The number of
sensors used in each system may vary based on the
installed location and the water rise level.
S6
High risk
S5
Moderate risk
S4
Safe zone Road level
S3
S2
Neutral zone
S1 Land level
River
Fig. 7. Sensor position of the Flood Observatory
System with the various level of risk zone
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
The Flood Observatory System consists of a
number of components working together to perform
simple repetitive task as preprogrammed [9]. The
basic system requires s number of water detection
sensors to detect the water level, a control unit to
process the information and a GSM modem to
establish wireless communication between Flood
Observatory System and the monitoring station [9 -
11].
The water level is detected by utilizing wireless
sensor technology which is designed to generate a
digital signal from the monitored location. The
Radio Frequency (RF) receiver is placed in the
centralized control unit to receive signals to be
processed. The real time water level information is
sent to the monitoring station as programmed, via
the short message system (SMS).
The Flood Observatory System consists of three
main components which are connected to one
another wirelessly via RF. The centralized control
unit and display system can be placed at a distance
away from the sensors situated in a remote high risk
flooding locations.
The Flood Observatory System is capable of
performing the entire process without human
intervention.
3.1 Water detection sensor
Sensors are the best device to use in an
automation system especially for remote locations
where human excess is limited. There are many
sensors which can be used in measuring water level.
Studying all the available sensor and the best
sensors for flood water measurement is using
wireless sensor technology. The wireless sensor is
employed as the best alternative for detection from a
safe distance where the control system will not be
placed in the flood prone locations. The sensor unit
is designed to be located approximately 100 meters
in radius from the centralized control unit.
Water detection at the flood prone locations
using sensors is a critical task and will be very
costly when it comes to replacement. Most of the
water sensors in the market are very costly and the
risk of damage is very high too. Basically there are
two types of water detections sensors, which is
contractive sensor and non contractive sensor.
The contractive sensors are the type of sensors
which will be submerged into water and has direct
157 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
contact with water. This type of sensors are very
cheap in cost but when it comes to durability is less
due to the wear and tear on the sensors itself. The
non contractive sensors are the type of sensors
which is placed away from the water. This type of
sensor is very safe and less maintenance in required.
For the Flood Observatory System both types of
sensors are used based on the critical position and
water rise level on a certain flood prone location.
The water detection sensors are positioned at a
certain location where water level measurement can
best be obtained. One of the factors considered when
positioning the sensor are weather conditions.
During dry seasons the water level will remain at
low level or at the safe zone and during rainy
seasons the water level will rise drastically to high
risk level.
The water level changes will be detected by the
water detection sensors and the information will be
instantly transmitted to the centralized control unit
via RF. The output of the RF receiver is connected
to the main control unit to update the system in real
time.
Table 1 shows an example of flooding zone with
alert/warning information.
Table 1. The risk zone in a flood event
Zone Description
Neutral zone All types of vehicle can use
the road
Safe zone All types of vehicle can use
the road
Low risk zone Heavy and light vehicle can
use the road
Moderate risk zone Only heavy vehicle can use
the road
High risk zone
Road is closed for all vehicles
The water detection level is to be determined by
the total number of sensors used in the system. The
detection level which includes the minimum water
detection level, highest water detection level and
variance between each sensor are determined by the
monitoring station management. This may vary
according to the monitored location based on the
water rise level.
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
3.2 Controller unit
The controller unit for the Flood Observatory
System detects the information from the sensors
wirelessly if there are any changes in the water level.
Wireless communications is established via an RF
transmitter and receiver in real time based on the
detection, a programmable logic controller (PLC)
process the data. The control unit will then send the
information to the monitoring station via the SMS.
The communication between the Flood
Observatory System and the monitoring station is
established by using a GSM modem to send real
time water level information and to receive special
commands from the monitoring station [6 ,14, 15].
The PLC is connected with a GSM modem thru a
communication interface to perform communication
as programmed in the system [4]. The prototype of a
Flood Observatory System and the water level
simulator is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. The prototype of a Flood Observatory
System
The control unit is also programmed to perform
basic calculations on the next water level prediction
based on real time sensor detection. The water rise
prediction time can then be transmitted to the
monitoring station as programmed. The water rise
prediction is the comparison from one level to
another level. The water rise time prediction
message will be instantly transmitted once the water
level increases from one level to another. The
number of zones is determined by the management
in the monitoring system is based on the frequency
of water rise in a monitored location.
158 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
The Flood Observatory System simulator and
the visual indication system is shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. The Flood Observatory System simulator
unit with indication system
3.3 Display and warning indication
Apart from sending real time water information
the Flood Observatory System is capable of
displaying warning signs if required. For example a
running LED text display unit is connected to the
control unit to display and alert road users on safety
during flood.
The display unit will display a few sets of
information which are very useful to road users to
avoid damage to their vehicles. The display system
is designed to be placed at a distance of
approximately 100 meters in radius from the control
unit. Apart from the text display unit, the control
unit can also be connected to a nearby traffic light as
a warning system for road uses approaching the
flood prone locations. The traffic light system can be
used to indicate the road conditions during flood.
The system is capable of determining whether the
road is safe for users as the water level changes.
4 Operation of a Flood Observatory
System
The system operates with a few sets of water
detection sensors which are located on the river
bank or any location where the water level
measurement is required. For the prototype unit
shown in Fig. 7, there are four sensors connected to
the system.
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
As the water level changes, the detection on the
sensor will increase according to where the sensors
are placed. The sensors will send the detected
information wirelessly to the control unit. The
control unit will determine which input port is to be
used to indicate the water level.
Based on the detected port, the PLC will send
the information to a communication interface to
transmit the water level information in SMS format
to the monitoring station management. The Flood
Observatory System can be programmed to transmit
SMS to the monitoring station management on all
water change information i.e. changes in a fixed
level periodically during normal operations [16].
The Flood Observatory System is also capable
of responding with the monitoring station
management at any time. When the GSM modem
receives a SMS command from the management, it
sends the information to the communication
interface [7, 8]. The SMS will then be converted
and send to the PLC. The PLC will read the sent
code and run a system check on the current water
level placed at a distance away and sends an instant
reply message to the monitoring station management
on the latest water level information [8, 16].
5 Advantages of Flood Observatory
System
The new revolution in alerting both the remote
station personnel and users on real time water level
information using Flood Observatory System is an
effective and efficient technique. Instant alerts on
water level change using SMS is the most common
technology that humans are engaged with during
working hours and during their leisure time [7, 8,
16]. In addition to that the remote station
personnel’s are also capable of checking real time
water level status just by sending a SMS to the
Flood Observatory System. The control system
embedded on the flooding location will instantly
respond the users of the current status.
The advantages of Flood Observatory System
compared to the conventional system which is the
manual data collection by humans at the flood prone
locations are shown in Table 2.
159 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010
 Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon

Table 2. Factors on water level monitoring by There are some sophisticated software’s for
conventional system monitoring the water level change from a distance
[4, 6, 7]. Custom made software’s are only practical
on a one to one basis, whereby the monitoring
Conventional
Factors FOS station management can only monitor a single
system
station at one time. The system also requires
internet connections and not practical for remote
Receive real time
No Automatic locations.
water level alerts
The system has a few factors within the
Display instant
No Automatic capability of a Flood Observatory System, but the
warning sign
only difference is in the costs for initial investment
Request remote and also for long run maintenance.
location water No Instantly
level information
5 Conclusion
Initial cost of
Daily basis Low cost The Flood Observatory System is designed to be
installation
an intelligent gadget which is capable of sending
real time water level information from a remote
The conventional system is still widely practiced location to a monitoring station which could be at a
in most countries. The management has to depend distance away, regardless of time.
on manually collected data from the flood prone
locations periodically. This method is not only The Flood Observatory System is a standalone
expensive but impractical during bad weather unit which requires no additional devices or system
conditions. to work with it. The self monitoring in the Flood
Observatory System ensures that the system
The advantages of the Flood Observatory performs efficiently and reliably for the monitoring
System comparing to software based system are station. At the event of a system failure, which
shown in Table 3. includes failure in the sensor unit and power supply
unit failure will be notified to the monitoring station
Table 3. Factors on water level monitoring by personnel via SMS in real time basis.
software base system
The Flood Observatory System can be linked to
a visual and audio unit to display warnings and
Software alerts the users via text displays or traffic light
Factors FOS
system system in an event of flooding.
Receive real time The implementation cost is invaluable to the
water level alerts Automatic Automatic
efficiency and usefulness of the system towards
mankind. The practicality of the system helps to
Display instant No Automatic minimize overheads due to floods and also prevents
warning sign
catastrophe at flood prone locations. A system for
Request remote flood monitoring and alert system was developed
location water level Instantly Instantly especially for critical flood prone remote locations
information to ensure mankind safety and savings to all sectors.

Initial cost of
Very costly Low cost
installation 6 Future works
Maintenance Very costly Low cost Sensors are important elements in the Flood
Observatory System. Further studies on wireless
Upgrading the system Very costly Low cost sensor technology will be best to replace the current
sensors. Precise and accurate detection of water

ISSN: 1991-8763 160 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010


WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
level will improve the data collection system for the
monitoring station.
The flood alert information’s can be displayed
on LED display boards for road users and for safety
reasons could be placed at strategic locations. Such
information’s should be in real time and transmitted
wirelessly from the measured location.
A possible means of power supply for the
sensors and centralized control unit is via solar cells.
The Flood Observatory System will be easy to
install and maintained if it is powered by solar cells.
The use of solar energy will also provide cheaper
source of power to the entire system to operate
especially if the system is placed in a remote
location. For sustainability the circuits and control
unit should be designed to consume minimum power
during operation.
7 Acknowledgment
This paper describes the research conducted at
the Faculty of Electronics and Computer
Engineering from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia
Melaka (UTeM). This work is part of Flood
Observatory System project, grant no. PJP/FKEKK
(21A) – S615 funded by UTeM. The project is to
develop a real time flood monitoring system and
services that can be deployed in the event of
flooding.
Authors would like to thank all organizations for
their sincere encouragement, support and assistance
in the development of the Flood Observatory System
prototype. The authors would like to take this
opportunity to thank them for their contributions
towards refining improving the system towards a
better product. The authors also would like to
specially thank:
Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah (MBMB)
GBR Technology Sdn. Bhd.
Ministry of Works Melaka (JKR)
8 Patent
The Flood Observatory System is being filed for
patent in October 2009 and still in the process of
granting the patent entitled a self monitored flood
Observatory system. The patent pending number is
PI: PI 2009 4488.
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
9 References
[1] DIAD ALERT real-time weather monitoring
and flood warning, DIAD Incorporated, 20
September 2000,
pp. 1-4.
[2] Guy Schumann, Renaud Hostache, Christian
Puech, Lucien Hoffmann, Patrick Matgen,
Florian Pappenberger, and Laurent Pfister,
High-Resolution 3-D Flood Information From
Radar Imagery for Flood Hazard Management,
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote
Sensing, VOL. 45, NO. 6, June 2007, pp. 1715-
1725.
[3] Gerardo Di Martino, Antonio Iodice, Daniele
Riccio and Giuseppe Ruello, A Novel
Approach for Disaster Monitoring: Fractal
Models and Tools, IEEE Transactions on
Geoscience and Remote Sensing, VOL. 45,
NO. 6, June 2007, pp. 1559 – 1570.
[4] Youliang Chen and Zhaoru Wang,
Implementation of a Long-Distance Monitor
and Automatic Alarm System of Flood Disaster
in PoYang Lake Area, 2008 International
Symposium on Information Science and
Engineering, pp. 120-123.
[5] Yan Junai, Fang Zhiyuan and Zhou Yu, Study
on Scheme Optimization of Urban Flood
Disaster Prevention and Reduction,
International Conference on Intelligent and
Advanced Systems 2007, pp. 971 – 976.
[6] Chandrama Dey, Xiuping Jia and Donald
Fraser, Decision Fusion for Reliable Flood
Mapping using Remote Sensing Images,
Digital Image Computing: Techniques and
Applications, pp. 184 – 190.
[7] Siti Yuhaniz, Tanya Vladimirova and Scott
Gleason, An Intelligent Decision-Making
System for Flood Monitoring from Space,
ECSIS Symposium on Bio-inspired, Learning,
and Intelligent Systems for Security, pp. 65-71.
[8] Tom De Groeve, Zsofia Kugler and G. Robert
Brakenridge, Near Real Time Flood Alerting
for the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination
System, Proceedings ISCRAM2007, pp. 33 –
39.
[9] Zelio Logic 2 Smart Relay User’s Manual,
Schneider Electric Com., 2002, pp. 17-38.
[10] AT Commands Interface Guide, Wavecom,
2002, pp. 2-13.
[11] Zelio Logic 2 SR2COM01 Communications
Interface: Help for using the operations folder,
Schneider Electric Com., 2005, pp. 4-21.
161 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL
[12] S. K. Subramaniam, S. H. Husin, S. A. Anas &
A. H. Hamidon, Multiple Method Switching
System for Electrical Appliances using
Programmable Logic Controller, WSEAS
TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and
CONTROL, Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2009, pp.
243 – 252.
[13] Siva Kumar a/l Subramaniam, Siti Huzaimah
binti Husin, Yusmarnita binti Yusop, Abdul
Hamid bin Hamidon, 2009, SMS or E-mail
alert system for centralize mail compartment,
Proceedings of the 8TH WSEAS International
Conference on Applications of Electrical
Engineering, Included in ISI/SCI Web of
Science and Web of Knowledge, April 30 –
May 2, 2009, Houston, USA, pp. 52 – 56.
[14] Siva Kumar a/l Subramaniam, Siti Huzaimah
binti Husin, Yusmarnita binti Yusop, Abdul
Hamid bin Hamidon, “Real time mailbox alert
system via sms or email”, Proceedings of the
2007 IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Applied
Electromagnetic, December 4 -6, 2007,
Melaka, Malaysia.
[15] Siva Kumar a/l Subramaniam, Siti Huzaimah
binti Husin, Yusmarnita binti Yusop and Abdul
Hamid bin Hamidon, “The production
performance monitoring system”. The 6th
WSEAS International Conference on Circuits,
Systems, Electronics, Control & Signal
Processing (CSECS’07) World Scientific and
Engineering Academy and Society, 29-31
December 2007, pp. 185-190.
[16] K J Abraham, 2008, SMART TUNNEL The
unique dual purpose solution for Kuala
Lumpur, International Symposium on
Underground Space Challenges in Urban
Development, 28 – 29 January 2008.
10 Biographies
Siva Kumar
Subramaniam was
born on 16 July 1981.
He received his
Diploma of
Electronics
Engineering from
Politeknik Ungku
Omar, Malaysia in
2002. He then
graduated with a
Bachelor Degree in
Electronics Engineering (Industrial Electronics)
ISSN: 1991-8763
Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon
from KUTKM Malaysia in 2006 and his Master
studies in Electronics Engineering in the same
institution in 2009 which is now known as Universiti
Teknikal Malaysia, Melaka. Engr. Siva Kumar is
working as a Lecturer in the same organization ever
since of graduating. Since his keen interest in
industries matters and strong support from the
university, the author is involved in the development
of the industrial based application such as
monitoring systems, automation for industries and
control base applications. Engr. Siva Kumar has a
few collaboration with industries in accomplishing a
number of research projects and consultancy works
in Malaysia for the past few years. He was involved
in such projects from his basic degree whereby he
won several medals in National and International
competitions such as the MTE, ITEX and PECIPTA.
Apart from research works with industries, Engr.
Siva Kumar also supervises Diploma and Degree
students for their final year projects within the same
institution.
Vigneswara Rao
Gannapathy was born
on 30 August 1982.
He is currently
serving as a tutor in
the Computer
Engineering
Department in the
Faculty of Electronics
and Computer
Engineering,
Universiti Teknikal
Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). He received his
Certificate of Electronic Engineering
(Telecommunication) in 2002 from Polytechnic of
Shah Alam, Malaysia. He then pursue further in his
higher education and received his Degree (B. Eng)
from University Technical of Malaysia Malacca
(UTeM) in Electronic Engineering
(Telecommunication) in 2007. Currently, he is doing
his Master studies by research in Wireless
Communication Engineering at University
Technical of Malaysia Malacca (UTeM) and
expected to finish his Master (MSc) by June 2010.
His research interests are in the field of wireless
communication and networks, in particular medium
access control, routing and cross layer design. His
research direction has focused on Wireless Mesh
Networks which emerged as a key technology for
next-generation wireless networking. Mr.
Vigneswara Rao also actively participated in
numerous competitions in National and International
162 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010
 Siva Kumar Subramaniam, Vigneswara Rao Gannapathy,
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS and CONTROL Sivarao Subramonian, Abdul Hamid Hamidon

level in Malaysia and have won a few medals for a

number of research projects.

Ir. Sivarao is an
academic and
researcher at the
Faculty of
Manufacturing
Engineering,
Universiti Teknikal
Malaysia Melaka
(UTeM). He is a
Professional
Engineer in the field
of mechanical
engineering. He is
currently active in
his research area namely precision machining,
Product design and artificial intelligence in the area
of manufacturing. He has published his research
finding in few international journal and proceedings.
He is also a reviewer for UK based JEM, JMES and
JEEER journals. His product innovation has won
him eight medals including few from Geneva.

Abdul Hamid bin

Hamidon @ Hamid
Don was born on 3
March 1950. He
received his Bachelor
of Electrical
Engineering from
Monash University,
Australia and Masters
of Science
(Electronics) from the
University of Wales
Institute of Science and Technology, Cardiff, Wales.
In 1976 he began his career as lecturer with Fakulti
Kejuruteraan Elektrik UTM. In 1986 he was
promoted to Associate Professor and made the
Deputy Dean (Academic) for 6 years. In 1995 he
was Director of the Student Support Services Unit.
He was also Head of the RF Subsystem Research
Group and was responsible for several course and
curriculum development. He was one of the task
force responsible for the development of KUTKM
now known as Universiti Teknikal Malaysia,
Melaka. In 2001 he promoted to Professor and was
made the Dean of the Electronic and Computer
Engineering Faculty.

ISSN: 1991-8763 163 Issue 3, Volume 5, March 2010

View publication stats